I listened to an interview recently with New York Times
best-selling author Caroline Leavitt (“Pictures of You” is her most recent
award-winner) and was struck by something she said toward the end of the show. She was talking about how important it is to know the rules but not
be so bound by them that you can’t move forward.
“Be brave,” she said.
Caroline seems to be a most gentle soul, but it was as
though she’d reached through the speakers and slapped me.
Be brave. Her words made me realize that the reason I’ve
been practically immobilized in my efforts to get my current manuscript done
is… fear. Fear that this sophomore effort will be, well, sophomoric. Fear that
my agent will hate it, fear that my editor will be disappointed, fear that the
publishing company that took a chance on me will regret that decision. Fear
that my first readers, my wife and kids, will hand the manuscript back to me
with sad, nice-try eyes. Call it one-hit wonder fear. Flash-in-the-pan fear.
Be brave. What I heard was, “Shut everything else out. Focus
solely on writing the best story you possibly can. Have the guts to write what
you want… and the cajones to finish the job.”
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| Caroline Leavitt |
Thanks, Caroline.
